13 BSI POST-BREXIT


BSI will carefully monitor the effects of changing regulations on standards after Brexit


Standards post-Brexit


BSI will be carefully monitoring any changes to UK market structures post-Brexit which could threaten its continued membership of CEN and CENELEC.


The possibility of a future challenge to BSI arises from the link between some standards and regulation (an estimated 15% of British Standards including European and international standards are cited in regulation). Standards are good practice used voluntarily by industry to demonstrate performance, whereas regulations represent a legal minimum. While standards are separate from regulations, they are linked in certain circumstances because in the UK some standards enable compliance with regulations and this will continue post-Brexit. This connection means that if the UK


government looks to fundamentally change the UK’s market structure post-Brexit and the way that government uses standards to support regulation, it could have the


unintended consequence of threatening BSI’s continued membership of CEN and CENELEC. Head of European and National Policy,


Richard Collin, explained, ”The lead-time to making changes to the law will give us the opportunity to identify potential changes that might lead to unintended consequences, such as putting our membership of CEN and CENELEC at risk. And if we see such changes coming, we would seek to influence government to remove those that threaten our membership. “Part of our role has always been to engage, educate and inform government and we will continue to do that in relation to the impact of Brexit on standards.” Richard cautioned that some perspective on the potential impact is needed, “The regulatory dimension can make a difference, but we should not overplay that. We estimate that only about 15% of British


Standards have a link to regulation, where divergence could impact on our CEN and CENELEC membership. The vast majority of standards would be unaffected.” “Of that relatively small number, most link to performance-based regulations. For example, if the regulation in a country says that a toy must not be capable of harming a child then the standard lays out the technical detail to enable manufacturers to meet that requirement. Most of these requirements are based on common sense and protecting people, so it is not clear to us why these would change.” “However, it remains to be seen how


regulatory divergence will develop post- Brexit. We will be vigilant but we are confident that we can find solutions to any issues arising, as happens today. Just as importantly, we will make sure we have the right resources in the right place to manage this issue.”


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